“The best writing is rewriting.” ~ E. B. White

That is so absolutely true. The first draft of a literary project is rarely presentable, whether it’s fiction, non-fiction, or somewhere in between. My writing tends to be a “stream of consciousness” sort of event, words jotted down as the imaginings unfold.

While I’m writing, I taste, hear, smell, see, and feel the same things that my characters are feeling. I interpret it from their unique and distinctive perspectives. I tell their story as I see it flowing through their eyes. My characters and I are experiencing the story, together. I am their emissary. I am their ambassador to the reader.

I can’t just hook my readers into my brain so they can watch it like a movie, however. I need to make the life of my story real for my readers, too.

That, my friends, is where a good critique writer (“critter”) comes in to play.

It’s the critter who tells you to change your verbiage (“was” and I are still locked in an on-going death match). It’s a critter who detects that storyline or timeline flaw. “How did that character leave when he never showed up?” They’re the ones who listen to your sentences and taste the flavor of your imagery.

The best critter is someone who is your paramount cheerleader. They want you to write, to succeed, and to accomplish your goal. They motivate you. They yell at you to write when you really just want to cruise Facebook. They call for the “PowerHour” of writing that gets you one chapter closer. A good critter helps you write YOUR story. Not his or her story. The good critter offers positive and negative feedback.

A critter is your battle buddy, your writing partner, and your shoulder. They’re with you from the start, and they’ll be with you until well past the end.

Sometimes they’ll make you cry. Sometimes they’ll make you laugh.

The best writing is the writing done when you’ve truly found what it is you want to say and paired it with what it is you need to say.

Writing is the tangle of your mind and imagination, let out for the world to see. Successful critiquing is the untangling of that knot, so the world can truly see each beautiful strand.

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Fiona is a Work-At-Home-Mom with two lovely daughters and a hyperactive dog. She is currently writing a romantic fiction novel and fending off The Muse at every other opportunity, while staring at the growing pile of “Good Ideas” that are beginning to litter her home office. Fiona has worked as an Analyst in the Army,  a computer systems engineer, and is currently working as a “jack of all trades” in marketing and business operations. Fiona’s blog, The Writer’s Block (http://fionadruce.blogspot.com), archives her on-going struggle with writing, her thoughts on writing, and the very important random topic that comes to mind at 3 am in the morning and must be published.

I am very happy to welcome today’s Guest Post Author, Fiona.  She’s a new friend, and a new crit partner I have found in this vast world of the WWW. We appear to be kindred spirits and I’m very glad she came by to visit today!!